Minor Transmutations
by Jordanna Morgan
Summary: Assorted short drabbles and snippets, mostly inspired by challenges.
1. Red Carpet

**Title:** Red Carpet  
**Author:** Jordanna Morgan  
**Archive Rights:** Please request the author's consent.  
**Rating/Warnings:** G.  
**Characters:** Mainly Ed, with contemplations on Al.  
**Setting:** Sometime early in the Elric brothers' travels.  
**Summary:** Prejudice must be an awful lot of work.  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Just playing with them.  
**Notes:** Just a little something based on the prompt word _comfort_, via the FMA Fic Contest community on LiveJournal.

* * *

Sometimes, I'd like to enjoy something nice for a change.

Take that restaurant on the corner, with the chandeliers and the red carpet. I'd like to go to a place like that, just once. Just to see what it's like. Maybe like playing dress-up... or make-believe. Pretending I could be that _normal_, just for one night.

But Al wouldn't come. I'll bet they wouldn't let his ironclad carcass through the door; and even if they did, he'd be too uncomfortable, too self-conscious to stand it.

And because he can't go... neither can I. It's my fault he can't even _pretend_ to be normal--and I could never enjoy the pleasures I've caused him to miss.

_It's not fair_, I think, just for a moment.

But as we walk past, the well-dressed people by the front doors stare at Al. Some even take a few steps back from the sidewalk.

And suddenly, I realize--

_They're_ the ones who are never comfortable.

People like that spend their lives picking and choosing who's good enough to be near them, for all the wrong reasons. They could never see Al for who he is... and if they're missing out on a guy like him, I wonder how much else they've pushed away.

Prejudice must be an awful lot of work.

They can have their chandeliers and red carpets. Starlight and winding roads are enough for me, as long as Al is there.

My _brother_ is beside me--and that's all the comfort I need.

* * *

_ 2010 Jordanna Morgan_


	2. Teachers Also Learn

**Title:** Teachers Also Learn  
**Author:** Jordanna Morgan  
**Archive Rights:** Please request the author's consent.  
**Rating/Warnings:** G, unless you have a problem with Izumi's bleeding incidents.  
**Characters:** Izumi, young Ed and Al.  
**Setting:** Early in Ed and Al's training with Izumi. It might work more or less for any FMA incarnation, but as always, I write first!anime.  
**Summary:** It started as these things always did, with Edward's mouth.  
**Disclaimer:** They sprang from the genius of Hiromu Arakawa. I'm only playing with them.  
**Notes:** Written for the prompt word _anger_ at the FMA Fic Contest community--because amazingly, I seem to be the only person who thought of using Izumi. It would have been better with another fifty words to work with, but 250 was the limit, so here it is.

* * *

It started as these things always did, with Edward's mouth... and a quiet study hour degenerated into one of Teacher's sudden fits of judo.

"I _said_ I was sorry!" Ed howled, dodging Izumi's fist. As it sailed past his cheek, he seized her wrist and twisted, trying to throw her just as she would do--but Izumi didn't budge. Instead, the arm he was gripping shoved like a piston, the flat of her palm smashing into his chest.

"Really, Ed, you're a little small for that move," she gloated, standing over him as he lay sprawled on his back.

Even across the room where Izumi had pitched him, crouched and panting, Alphonse sensed the rising fury in Ed. It was like the feeling people described when lightning was about to strike.

"_Who're you callin' a microscopic pea_?" Ed exploded...

And an instant later, it was _Izumi_ who landed beside Al.

With an astonished expression, Izumi sat up--and started coughing. The brothers gasped in alarm as red blood spattered her dress.

* * *

A quarter-hour later, the horrified brothers sat huddled outside the bedroom where Sig tended to Izumi.

"You overdid it, Ed," Al whimpered, hugging his knees to his chest.

Ed gulped, glancing at the closed door with terrified eyes. "Yeah... She's gonna_ KILL _us for getting blood on her clothes!"

* * *

But of course, Teacher didn't _quite_ kill them, after all; and while the future held many more thrashings, it just so happened that she never did mention Ed's size again.

* * *

_2010 Jordanna Morgan_


	3. Detachment

**Title:** Detachment  
**Author:** Jordanna Morgan  
**Archive Rights:** Please request the author's consent.  
**Rating/Warnings:** PG for blood.  
**Characters:** Ed and Roy, with a quick glimpse of Al.  
**Setting:** General.  
**Summary:** Sometimes resentment makes a flimsy shield.  
**Disclaimer:** They belong to the genius of Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just playing with them.  
**Notes:** This is a curiously veiled bit of parental!antagonistic Roy-Ed. It was written for the prompt word _quiver_ at FMA Fic Contest.

* * *

Ed hadn't seen so much blood since the failed transmutation.

It should have been a simple errand, calling on a troubled State Alchemist to repossess his license; but the man unexpectedly attacked. His transmuted blade caught Colonel Mustang off-guard before Ed could take him down.

Now the Colonel lay bleeding his life out in front of Ed, while Al had gone for help.

"You're _not_ dying on me - !"

Mustang was unresponsive, barely breathing, pulse erratic. Ed snarled in helpless frustration, pressing harder on the torn piece of his coat that staunched the wound.

"_This_ is why I hate your guts. If I didn't hate you, I might feel..."

Ed trailed off. He bowed his head, eyes closed, and felt himself begin shaking like a leaf.

"It's hard enough being so scared of losing Al. I _won't_ feel like that about anybody else! If I did, I... I couldn't take it when you _do_ get yourself killed."

He glanced up at Mustang's ashen face... and was _sure_ he saw the shadow of a familiar smirk.

At the same instant, he heard running footsteps and clattering metal. Al burst through the doorway, followed by a man and woman; unknown Good Samaritans who rushed to aid Colonel Mustang. They didn't quite push Ed aside, but he backed away, torn between reluctance and relief.

Al gently gripped Ed's shoulder. "The ambulance is coming. It's gonna be okay."

"...Yeah," Ed murmured, staring down at his bloodstained gloves.

_I don't want to feel like this_.

* * *

_2010 Jordanna Morgan_


	4. Buzz

**Title:** Buzz  
**Author:** Jordanna Morgan  
**Archive Rights:** Please request the author's consent.  
**Rating/Warnings:** G.  
**Characters:** Al and several unwelcome creatures.  
**Setting:** Prior to the events of my story "The Inn of White Roses".  
**Summary:** Alphonse has a pest problem.  
**Disclaimer:** They belong to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just playing with them.  
**Notes:** Written for the prompt word _fly_ at FMA Fic Contest. I decided to frame this as a brief outtake from the Elrics' encounter with the Acid Alchemist - a non-existent (as yet) misadventure that I alluded to in my story "The Inn of White Roses".

* * *

Judging by the large hole burned through Alphonse's vambrace, the chimeras prowling the Acid Alchemist's study were part venom-spitting cobra... with a nasty corrosive enhancement.

Fortunately, Al had no scent to trace; if he didn't move, they couldn't distinguish him from any other inanimate object. They just wouldn't _go away_ - and he was anxious to look for his brother. Ed had sent him to rifle through the research journals in the study, while he investigated the ominous storage tanks in the cellar.

Minutes later, an alarm had sounded, and the guard-chimeras bounded in from the hall.

And now, to top it all off -

An inquisitive fly was hovering around Al's visor. He watched in dismay as the insect lighted on the edge of his left eyehole, jittered about for a moment... and disappeared into his helmet.

The buzzing that ensued inside him was the most unbelievably distracting sound Al had ever heard.

A chimera trotted over to him, nosing his gauntlet. He remained statue-still, and tried to ignore the maddening hum of tiny wings echoing within him. It was only a bug, he reminded himself; far preferable to the beasts surrounding him.

...But then the fly landed on his blood seal, and all bets were off.

With a piercing shriek, Al yanked off his helmet and shook himself to dispel the intruding insect. His violent movement instantly attracted the chimeras, and they sprang forward, baying like rabid hounds.

Helmet in hands, Al bolted for the hallway with all possible speed.

* * *

_ 2010 Jordanna Morgan_


	5. Ill Advised

**Title:** Ill-Advised  
**Author:** Jordanna Morgan  
**Archive Rights:** Please request the author's consent.  
**Rating/Warnings:** G.  
**Characters:** Ed and Winry (or more accurately, Winry's wrench).  
**Setting:** Any.  
**Summary:** Ever wonder why genius Ed hasn't learned to fix his own automail?  
**Disclaimer:** They belong to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just playing with them.  
**Notes:** The title could describe either this silly micro-fic itself, or Ed's idea herein. I usually can't stand the idea of writing fics smaller than the author's notes that precede them... but this actually wouldn't work as well if it wasn't just as simple and to-the-point as it is.

* * *

"Hey, Winry? ...I've been thinking about studying automail engineering, so I can do my own repairs without having to come all the way back to Resembool."

-_THWACK_-

"_Oww_... Okay, so maybe not..."

* * *

_ 2011 Jordanna Morgan_


	6. Foundling

**Title:** Foundling  
**Author:** Jordanna Morgan  
**Archive Rights:** Please request the author's consent.  
**Rating/Warnings:** Slightly PG for suggestions of dead things.  
**Characters:** Alphonse and a strange critter.  
**Setting:** General.  
**Summary:** Al latches onto something even more problematic than a kitten.  
**Disclaimer:** They belong to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just playing with them.  
**Notes:** I wrote this over a year ago. I had thoughts at the time of expanding it into something more, but I dont see it going anywhere at this point, so it might as well stand on its own.

* * *

According to Ed, roasted chimeras really did smell like chicken... and for once, Al was glad to have no nose.

Ruefully he surveyed the charred, hacked remains of a freakish menagerie, destroyed as their creator's attack dogs. The State Alchemists were now to catalogue and study that rogue alchemist's work - a prospect Al hated. No one should want to learn how such wretched creatures were made.

From the corner of his vision, he saw movement half-hidden behind a crate, and cautiously bent to investigate. Another chimera lay dead... but something wriggled under its chin.

Then a little head popped up between the chimera's huge paws.

It was the ugliest thing Al had ever seen. Beaky jaws and bulging eyes weighed down the head on its scrawny neck, and its body was covered with a spiny gray coat like pinfeathers. It resembled a newborn bird with a wingless, four-legged animal body.

Hesitantly, Al petted its head with one finger. It croaked - and the beak clamped down on his leather fingertip.

Rarely had he felt a deeper longing to cry.

Chimeras made from such disparate animals weren't supposed to be able to breed. If scientists saw this proof that they could, it would be taken away to a laboratory.

_Just like I would, if they knew the way I am._

_...Over my broken blood seal._

Al gently picked up the orphan chimera, glancing over his shoulder. Ed and Colonel Mustang were arguing, oblivious.

He unfastened his chestplate, and slipped his foundling inside.

* * *

_ 2010 Jordanna Morgan_


	7. Tummy Ache

**Title:** Tummy Ache  
**Author:** Jordanna Morgan  
**Archive Rights:** Please request the author's consent.  
**Rating/Warnings:** PG for fantasy-violence roughhousing and dark humor.  
**Characters:** Lust, Gluttony, Envy.  
**Setting:** General.  
**Summary:** Lust wants to know why her Gluttony has a tummy ache.  
**Disclaimer:** They belong to Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just playing with them.  
**Notes:** Completely absurd, random ridiculousness, inspired by a prompt at Comment Fic.

* * *

"Lust, my _tummy_ hurts," Gluttony whimpered helplessly. He rolled over on his back, his hands clutched to his enormous belly.

This was a first in Lust's experience. She had seen her doting companion eat everything from a mattress to an oxcart - ox included - without so much as a gurgle from whatever constituted his innards. Not even chowing down on politicians or the occasional lawyer was enough to make him turn green. Even so, he was now unmistakably in distress, and she couldn't imagine what might have caused it.

Scowling, she turned to the other homunculi and planted her hands on her hips. "Just _what_ have you been letting Gluttony get into while I was away?"

No one spoke. There were a few befuddled glances back and forth... and Envy squirmed just a little.

Without warning, one of Lust's spears shot out, and the astonished Envy suddenly found himself pinned to the wall.

"_Well_?" Lust ground out.

Envy wriggled and clawed irritably at the protrusion that impaled him. "I didn't think it would be a problem, alright? It was only those... those _sisters_. You know. Khara and Kinsey and Korina. Those little tabloid freaks that are famous for no reason. I got tired of hearing their names, so I... _might_ have taken Gluttony out last night to have a midnight snack."

The shapeshifter thudded gracelessly to the floor as the spear was withdrawn. Lust uttered a contemptuous snort and turned her back on him. She returned to Gluttony's side, to make soft comforting noises and pet his belly soothingly.

"There, there. It'll feel better soon." She glanced over her shoulder at the other quailing homunculi, and the look in her eyes warned them that her next words were an unbreakable law.

"You will never, _ever_ let Gluttony eat _spoiled_ food again."

* * *

_© 2012 Jordanna Morgan_


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